Have Saracens broken salary cap regulations?

Saracens owner Nigel Wray has gone into business with four senior-squad members including England captain Owen Farrell. This raises questions to whether the Premiership champions have broken the salary cap regulations.

A Sportsmail investigation found that on the same day in 2017, two different investment property companies were set up by associate’s of Wray’s, and named ShahDan Limited and DanCallie Ltd.

In both of these cases, Daniel van den Heever was the sole director and Wray the sole shareholder.

However within three months, the names, directors and shareholders of the companies had changed.

ShanDan Limited became VunProp Ltd on March 31 2017, with the two Vunipola brothers becoming joint directors and 33.3 % shareholders. The company owns around £1.5 million worth of property.

DanCallie Ltd became Wiggy9 Investments, with Wigglesworth owning 65 per cent of the shares and Wray 35 per cent.

It was Owen Farrell who most recently went into business with Wray.

Less than a month after Farrell signed a contract extension with Saracens, the financial management firm Faz Investments Ltd was set up by former Saracens director Kamal Shah, with Farrell and Wray as the only shareholders.

These businesses aren’t the only link between Wray and his players, with documents showing that he still co-owns a £690,000 property where former player Schalk Brits is registered as having lived since 2011.

Wray also owned the £587,500 house in St Albans where former Scotland second-row Jim Hamilton lived until the end of 2017, despite retiring in May 2017.

Under salary cap regulations, all contracts and arrangements between a club and a player must be declared to the salary cap manager of Premiership Rugby Limited. The regulations also state that any accommodation or holiday cost is included in the salary of a player.

However, Saracens insist they “readily comply” with the salary cap regulations.

They say all transactions are disclosed to the league’s salary cap manager, adding they are able to spend above the £7m cap because of the high proportion – almost 60% – of home-grown players in their squad.

Premiership Rugby confirmed it will look into the information to determine if Saracens are in breach of regulations.

“Premiership Rugby has a duty to all clubs to deliver the system in a transparent, objective and non-discriminatory manner,” added a league spokesperson.